Hammer Diplomacy and Skipping
by sarcasticallydelicious
Summary: Poppy stands for all Yordles. Lulu stands for sparkles.
1. Mimsy Meetings

nonage n. 1: minority, 2a: a period of youth b: lack of maturity

A/N: This was written back before Poppy's rework when Poppy was the Demancian Ambassador.

* * *

The first time Poppy saw her she was skipping circles around a very confused looking voidling in the center of the grand staircase. She sang some lilting childish tune, swinging her staff to some unheard rhythm. Glee lit her impish face even as she completely ignored those around her.

And there were so many people around her. Poppy grew more and more mortified as each passerby. It was midday. 3 different matches had just let out, 4 more were starting, and the attendants and champions and summoners all crowded together to get by. Lulu just kept at her dance, hat and sprite bobbing past their waists in an oblivious display. The heat just kept building in Poppy's face at each averted gaze and each upturned nose.

Finally she couldn't take it anymore. She strode forward, dodging knees and swinging fists. Ignoring the careless limbs as best she could, Poppy made it through to the little circle the other Yordle had carved out for herself in the middle of the living river.

"Lulu!" Poppy called out, trying her hardest to keep the annoyance from her voice. "Let's go! You're in the way!"

Lulu glanced at her, green eyes sparkling, but continued her display.

The sprite seemed to ignore her completely, until its meandering path took it over her head. Then it spun in the air and her vision exploded with sparkles.

Coughing, Poppy waved at the air in front of her, trying to clear her vision.

Lulu shouted a final "Cutilate!" and leapt up, staff held high. The voidling disappeared in a Poof! and a purple butterfly fluttered drunkenly up and away.

"You're all sparkly!" Lulu commented, finally acknowledging Poppy. "Who are you, sparkly?"

"Poppy," Poppy stated, grinding her teeth. "Are you done?"

"Popsy!" Lulu shouted happily. Then, abruptly glancing to her left and right, "You shouldn't be in here. People can't get through, silly!"

Poppy only got out a few words of her angry retort before Lulu grabbed her arm and started pulling her through the crowd. Poppy stumbled after her, desperately maneuvering to avoid stepping on Lulu's trailing purple hair. Even more frustrating, the Fae Sorceress seemed to have no problem herself flowing through the writhing forest of legs.

When they finally emerged from the crowd, Lulu dropped Poppy's arm. She leaned in close, close enough their noses almost touched.

"Blue is a bad color for you. I recommend skipping!"

And she demonstrated as she dashed away down a side hallway.

The next time she saw her Poppy was in the Institute's gardens. Poppy sat on her extra high chair across the table from Xin Zhao and the Crownguard siblings. The annual meeting between King Jarvan and Bandle City's elite needed to be organized. Poppy was halfway through laying out her plan for guarding the caravans when distraction struck.

Lulu flew around a corner on her staff, ramming the hedge as she turned in an explosion of leaves. The leaves then burst into flame as Annie rounded the corner, lobbing fireballs after the fleeing Yordle. Lulu cackled gleefully as she zoomed forward, circling the meeting, losing her hat, and disappearing around the corner. Annie dashed after her, broad smile plastered on her face as she threw another incendiary missile.

The abandoned hat floated serenely down to settle directly in the middle of the table. Then it turned into a frog.

The frog locked eyes with Poppy for a long moment before hopping off the table. Xin stood and strode forward to stomp out the smoldering foliage, and Poppy put her face in her hands.

It had been a long match, the end to an even longer day. Poppy sat at the bar, happy to finally have some time to herself. Her hammer weighed comfortably on her back, a constant in her crazy world.

She'd been doing her best to ignore the riotous party going on behind her. Vi, Gragas, and Jax seemed to have been hitting the booze even harder than usual. Poppy took a gulp of her own, resolving to hit it harder herself. All the better to ignore the rowdy carousing.

"Poppy!"

A massive hand landed on her back, and Poppy sat stock still. She didn't have the energy to deal with this. She mustered her tipsy consciousness, willing Vi to find some other victim for her drunken attentions.

"Poppy! Just the Yordle I wanted to see!" The pungent fumes formed an almost palpable fog around the brawler. "We need to borrow your hammer to settle a bet! You'll lend it to us, won't you, best tiny friend of mine?"

She'd grabbed the hammer and pulled it from Poppy's back before Poppy even had time to react. Waving it over her head triumphantly, Vi wobbled back to her table.

"Wait, stop!" Poppy jumped down from her stool as quickly as she could in her slightly inebriated state to chase after Vi. "No, you can't have that! Give it back!"

She lunged at the hammer, but, held up as it was it stayed a good couple feet out of her grasp. Poppy leapt at it anyway, barely closing any of the distance.

Gragas stumbled forward, putting a hand on her head to keep her down. Poppy swung her arms futilely, trying to dislodge him. He let out a rumbling laugh.

Now that the laughter had started, there was no stopping it. It infected the room, spreading from table to table like some insidious plague.

Each snicker, each guffaw cut deep. All she had worked for, what little respect she'd been able to scrape and bargain for over the years, washed away in a single moment. Poppy felt her face grow hot. Her eyes stung, but like hell was she going to cry in front of them and prove them right.

Bright green eyes appeared, filling her blurry field of vision.

"Popsy?"

"Lulu," Poppy growled through clenched teeth. Of all the things to have to deal with now, on top of all this. Her lip trembled.

Lulu leaned in quickly to peck her on the cheek.

Poppy's face contorted. She balled her fist to take out the offending Yordle, the one person in this room she could take with her diminutive size-

"Enormibus!"

Suddenly, the only thing Poppy saw in with her upturned gaze were ceiling beams.

She turned her gaze downward onto the suddenly silent room, on the shocked forms of her tormentors below her. Slowly, deliberately, Poppy reached out and plucked her hammer from Vi's slack mechanical fingers.

Standing out in the room as she always did, Lulu's tiny figure stared up at her smile wide.

Poppy couldn't help grinning back.

* * *

Vi and Gragas both made a point of apologizing to her the next day. Poppy accepted them graciously, if coolly, before continuing on her way. She had been invited to a tea party, and she didn't want to be late.


	2. Teatime with the Tulips

Controvertible adj. capable of being disputed or opposed by reason

* * *

Poppy sipped her tea. The tea itself was quite nice, smelling of lemons and lavender and just a bit bitter: just the way she liked it. She inhaled, enjoying the steam flowing along her face.

"More tea, Nom Nom?"

"Augobbleaugle!"

Poppy bit her lip. She sat primly at the table, delicately holding her cup and saucer. The table, far too large for their group, was covered with a pristine white cloth, and set with an eclectic array of utensils and cups. Sunlight filtered through the foliage, speckling the tablecloth. A warm spring breeze tickled her nose.

Across from her sat Lulu and Kog'Maw.

She owed Lulu, which was why she was here. She had not been expecting the Mouth of the Abyss, but then she couldn't imagine who would at being invited to a tea party.

Except Lulu, she supposed.

"The musician is rude; she only invited the big one," Lulu had told her when she'd asked. "Just because the big one had a top hat." She looked Poppy right in the eye, shaking her head slowly.

Poppy just shook her head and rescued her scone from a charging Kog'Maw.

All things considered, its manners weren't bad, Poppy mused. It had only eaten half the table so far, all with a teacup grasped daintily in one of its tiny little arms.

Lulu jumped on the table, rapping it with her staff. The pixie, who Poppy had been watching the entire time out of the corner of her eye, sat perched on the staff's top, glaring back at her.  
"Friends and flounders!" Lulu called out, voice carrying throughout the clearing. "We gather here today to fill our new friends with delicious tea! And crumpets!"

Poppy sipped her tea, still not quite sure what she was doing here. Lulu continued on, her usual mixture childish declarations and enthusiastic non sequiturs. She seemed a nice enough girl, Poppy thought, as the Lulu trotted around the table, deftly hopping over a munching Kog'Maw. Flighty, but well intentioned.

And she had been lonely, since her father's death. Even in Bandle City she'd had few friends, focusing instead on her work and her craft.

It had been the same in the League. Her mission had taken all her time. She had made it take all her time.

Poppy blinked. Lulu's eyes stared at her, huge and sparkling.

"The tulips are happier in pairs."

Perhaps it wouldn't be so bad to try something else for a change.

Poppy cast her eyes down at her tea and took a sip, smiling. "And the Poppy would be happy to spend more time with the tulips."

Kog'Maw chose that moment to burp, spewing toxic juices that began to slowly dissolve the rest of the table. The tea party was over.


	3. Pride and Pickery

Discomfit v. 1: to frustrate the plans of: thwart, 2: to put into a state of perplexity and embarrassment: disconcert

* * *

"Poppy, would you be able to assist me?"

Somehow her voice carried through the roar of the furnace and clang of hammers.

Poppy placed her tongs down carefully and turned. "Of course, Karma, what do you need?"

Karma looked out of place in the smithy. Posed serenely in her elegant Ionian dress she stood out starkly against the soot and flames.

Of course, Poppy stood out too. Even right outside the Institute of War, not many Yordle women frequented the forge, much less worked at them.

Poppy pushed up her visor and walked to join Karma. They left the building together to talk on the bustling street. Even with the sun beating down and market day in full swing around them, the air was cool and quiet in comparison.

"So what is it?" Poppy asked, standing on her toes to buy a roll from the baker's stand. "I doubt you would have come here to find me if it wasn't important."

Karma smiled, purchasing a roll of her own. "You are right. Though I do wish I had more time to visit the town. My duties at home and at the League keep me too busy to do so."

Poppy chewed her roll, stretching her arms and waiting patiently. It was a nice day, and apparently the issue wasn't particularly time sensitive.

"So you and Lulu have been friendly recently."

Poppy sighed, her good mood evaporating. "What has she done now?"

Karma ripped off a piece of bread and popped it into her mouth. "The Ionian Cultural Association is hosting an event at the Institute, and brought several historic artifacts with them. This morning one went missing, and we think Lulu took it."

"And you're sure it was her? Given the target, I can think of several parties who might want them."

Karma's lips quirked. "But none of them would have left a sparkly flower sculpture of a poro in their place."

Poppy nodded. Yeah, that sounded like Lulu all right.

"I do not ask you because I am angry," Karma continued. "I just need the box back."

"I'll go talk to her." Poppy stashed her roll in her pouch and turned to leave.

"Just so you know, I am glad you two have become friends. Lulu is…eccentric, but her heart is in the right place."

Nodding again, Poppy headed out into the crowd.

* * *

The walk gave Poppy plenty of time to think.

Apparently she was Lulu's keeper now. She had come to the League to negotiate peace, and better the place of Yordles across Valoran. Instead she had become the babysitter for loopiest person she'd ever met.

The walk gave her plenty of time to think. And stew.

* * *

Poppy found Lulu in the forest just outside Summoner's Rift in a glade they'd visited before. Lulu sat in the middle of the clearing, largely obscured by her oversized hat. The box in question danced around her chasing that nasty pixie.  
"Lulu."

Lulu turned, eyes sparkling. "Popsy! Come play with us! This game needs a fifth player!"

Poppy entered the clearing as Lulu jumped up. "Lulu, we need to talk."

"You're right!" Lulu nodded sagely. "You don't know the rules yet! So first you count the colors-"

"Stop!" Poppy yelled. After spending an hour trudging through the forest going through everything that was wrong with this whole situation, her patience was wearing thin. She snatched at the frocking Ionian artifact. It dodged out of her reach, somehow managing to look at her disappointedly despite not having a face. "Lulu, you can't keep doing this! You can't just keep running wild and doing whatever you want without any thought for the consequences!"

Lulu frowned. "What do you mean? Consequentialities are always wildly running."

"Consequences!" Poppy hissed, making another grab at the box. She caught it this time, and grasped the squirming thing to her chest. "The results of these ridiculous things you do!" The flailing box smacked Poppy in the chin. "Can you please take the enchantment off this thing?"

Lulu tapped the box absently with her staff. The lack of shame on her face infuriated Poppy; if anything she looked more confused than upset.

"Why are you taking Boxy? Boxy just wanted to go outside!"

"Have you been listening at all?" Poppy shouted back. "You can't just take things!

"But Boxy wanted to go! I was helping!" Lulu wailed.

"Boxy can't talk, you nitwit!" Poppy yelled. "It's bad enough that the rest of Runeterra looks at us as children. Why do you have to prove them right?"

The damn pixie chose that moment fly straight at Poppy's face. Poppy flinched back, swatting at the annoying thing with her free hand. She managed to get a hit in, but the nasty thing hung on and bit her, hard.

Poppy yelled and dropped the box.

It fell to the ground and shattered.

"No! Boxy!"

"Look what you made me do! If you just wouldn't make up things this never would have happened!"

Lulu's eyes were wide and wet and wouldn't meet Poppy's. "Are you saying that if no one else hears it I shouldn't listen?"

Poppy paused picking up the pieces of the box. "Yes, that's exactly what I'm saying."

Lulu didn't look at her. Poppy continued angrily grabbing shards of ceramic. How was she going to explain this to Karma? Poppy wanted to be the sane one; with people like Ziggs and Veigar representing Yordles in the League, she had her work cut out for her.

Finding the last little leg of the priceless Ionian artifact, Poppy stared at the little pile of fragments in her hands and felt defeated. Why did she even try anymore? Everything she did just made things worse.

The tip of Lulu's staff wobbled into her vision, dipping to touch the shards of box before Poppy could pull away. The pile exploded in a flash of purple sparkles.  
When the dust cleared the box remained, a little shinier but otherwise as good as new.

Poppy looked up. Lulu sat over at the edge of the glade with her pixie on her shoulder, curled in on herself.

Setting the box down carefully on the ground and went to join her.

"I'm sorry," Poppy said quietly. "I shouldn't have yelled."

Lulu sniffled.

Poppy hugged her legs to her chest. "I just…I've been trying so hard, and everything's been going wrong…" She paused, taking a long breath. "But you're my best friend here. And I'm really sorry I hurt you over something so stupid. Especially when you were the one who ended up fixing it all."

Lulu glanced in her direction, eyes downcast. "I won't listen to things no one else hears anymore."

Poppy shifted over and clasped her hand. "You can listen. Just ask their people before you take them outside again, okay?"

"Mm!"

Lulu's expression changed from distraught to exuberant so fast it made Poppy worry. She made a mental note to do something nice for the other Yordle real soon.

"And if I start being a jerk again, turn me into one of those squirrel things or something. Now I need to go bring Boxy back to Karma." She got up, then paused. "Would you like to come too?"

Lulu jumped up, grinning ear to ear, and nodding enthusiastically.

* * *

"Boxy just wanted to go outside."

Poppy kept her face neutral as she watched Karma. After what happened earlier, she was going to stand by Lulu. After all, Lulu had been one of the few to stand by her.

"Well, thank you for obliging him, Lulu. This is a special type of ceramic that reacts to sunlight. We need to take it out regularly so it can retain its luster." Karma took the box and placed it carefully on a sunny pedestal.

Poppy glanced at Lulu. The woman was still a mystery, but more and more she was learning there was a method to her madness.

Karma came back to them and handed them each a plate with a flaky Ionian pastry. She smiled at each of them. "Thank you both for your help."  
Poppy felt Karma's gaze linger on her.

Karma returned to preparing for her event.

Poppy turned to Lulu. "Want to eat these in the practice yard? Lux is trying out some new spells today, and it should be quite the show."

Lulu beamed. "I've never met a sparkly I didn't like! Except that one time with that pomegranate…"

They walked out into the sunshine, Poppy nibbling on her pastry and Lulu chattering on.

Poppy smiled.


	4. Ability Power Shmability Power

Tyro n. a beginner in learning : novice

* * *

Poppy scrunched her brow, trying her hardest to focus despite how ridiculous she felt. For some reason she had agreed to let Lulu try to teach her magic. Being Lulu, this of course meant drinking some bizarre concoction that turned her lips orange, painting stars under her eyes, and wearing Lulu's oversized hat. Her one consolation was that Lulu had chosen a secluded patch of forest for these "lessons."

"First," Lulu stated seriously, passing in front of Poppy rapping her staff on her palm like a schoolmarm's with a ruler, "you close your eyes to see _beyond_."

"Beyond what?" Poppy asked, scrunching her face. The paint on her face flaked and itched.

" _Beyoooooond_ ," Lulu enunciated, as if that made all the difference in the world.

Knowing Lulu's instructions weren't going to get any clearer, Poppy obediently closed her eyes. She looked every way she could think of, but all she could see were the dancing specks of light on the back of her eyelids.

"Do you see it?" Lulu's voice floated to her. "The seas and skies and sprawling squirrels of magic?"

Poppy didn't, at all, but she had never been one to quit without trying.

She tried and tried, until her eyes ached from searching and a pulsating whooshing sound dominated her hearing.

Through all this, Lulu had been uncharacteristically quiet. Maybe she sensed something, because she spoke just as Poppy's will began to waver.

"Seeing is only a teensy bit. Let's do some real magic!"

"Yes, please," Poppy said gratefully, opening her eyes. While she didn't particularly think that she would be any better at this, at least her lack of ability would be obvious and concrete.

Lulu tossed Poppy her staff. "Now follow me!"

She began shuffling in a rhythmless dance, full of twirls and jumps and stomps. Poppy followed along as best she could, her battle training the only thing keeping her from landing on her face.

Finally, Lulu struck a triumphant pose. "Glimmerglam!"

Poppy tottered and thrust the staff in the air. "Glimmerglam?"

A purple plume of magic burst from the gnarled wood, swirling aggressively through the air before being dispersed by a gust of wind.

Poppy stared, mouth agape.

"Piiiiix!" Lulu admonished.

Poppy glared at the Pixie. Well that certainly made more sense. The little pest didn't even have the manners to look abashed.

"I guess I'm just not a mage." Poppy shrugged. Honestly, she wasn't really surprised; she liked the weight of the hammer in her hand, and this all felt really…mimsy seemed like the right word somehow. "How about next time I show you some hammer diplomacy?"

She hoped Lulu had a little more talent with a weapon than she had with a spell. But Lulu's smile was more than consolation for an hour of silliness.


	5. Home is Where the Hurdles Are

Prudent adj. 1: marked by wisdom or judiciousness, 2: shrewd in the management of practical affairs, 3: cautious, discreet, 4: thrifty, frugal

* * *

"What's in the bag, Popsy? Dewdrops?"

The massive hallway was empty besides the two of them; with the coming conference in Demacia, anyone associated with any of the parties involved had retired to their respective states.

Some other time, Poppy would have found the lack of hustle and bustle eerie. Now, it just reminded her that she was running late.

Poppy sighed, and dropped her bag. Each time they had this conversation it annoyed her more, but didn't hurt any less.

"I'm going to Bandle City, Lulu. We've been through this."

Lulu's eyes lit up. "I know that place! The tulips are loud there, and the children like to play! Let's go!"

As much as she'd like the company, Lulu couldn't go to Bandle City. She could never go back. It may have been her home once, but after what she had done the last time she was there…

She couldn't go back, but Poppy had to. It was her job after all, her purpose in coming to the League.

"Maybe some other time, all right? I have to work, and I wouldn't want it to be boring for you."

Lulu looked momentarily perturbed, but quickly perked back up. "Can you come to the Glade, then? It's all sparkly and the mushrooms sing with you and Pix has friends there! You'll like it, I promise!"

They'd been through this too. The Glade changed people, and not in a way Poppy wanted to be changed. She wasn't sure she wanted Lulu changed any more by that place, either, even if that wasn't really her choice to make.

"You know I can't do that either. If we lost track of time…"

Lulu's eyes grew distant in a look Poppy had come so acquainted with but that still made her insides twist every time. It was a reminder; while it was easy to think of Lulu as her wise, kind, and occasionally loopy friend, that look and things like it didn't let her forget reality for too long. At some point, Lulu was going to get in some trouble she couldn't get her out of, or wander off where Poppy couldn't find her, or forget who Poppy was entirely.

Poppy smiled at her as best she could. "How about, when you do that, I stay here so you have a reason to come back? And you can stay here now, so I don't lose track of time in Bandle City and leave you all alone."

Lulu beamed. "That's a good plan. You're smart, Popsy!"

Poppy smiled at her for real this time and shouldered her bag.

She took a few steps, before stopping. Something tickled the top of her head. She looked up to find the tip of Lulu's hat.

"Just don't listen to the tulips. They'll try to trick you."

Poppy grinned and headed for the door. "I'll make sure not to. See you soon."


	6. Even Stranger Times

Bellwether n. one that takes the lead or initiative: leader; also: an indicator of trends

* * *

Three days ago Lulu had set the statue in the Institute's main hall ablaze, despite that the thing was solid bronze and fire was not her element. The resulting violet smoke had cleared the passageway, and the noxious fumes that lingered still confounded the veritable army of mages employed by the League.

Then in yesterday's match, Lulu made all the krugs on the Rift sprout wings and fly away. Which, the esteemed mages responsible for enchanting and maintaining the Rift asserted, was simply impossible. The magic on her _and_ the krugs _and_ the Rift all prevented such things. They continued to stand firm on this position even when a wayward krug smashed through their window on the 23rd floor.

Something had to be done, Poppy decided. She wasn't magical enough to know what that something was, so she called upon her tried and true hammer diplomacy. But since she wasn't about to hit the little mage over the head with her hammer, she would go with the diplomacy part.

* * *

"She's been fine!" Lux said as she trotted beside Poppy on the way to Lulu's favorite little glade outside the Institute. "Who knows how much magic she has? She could have always had the power to break the Rift. It wouldn't be too surprising."

Poppy said nothing through this, though she did wonder how such a smart girl could be so blind. And while Lux might be right about Lulu's ability to overcome the Rift's magic, that hardly explained Lulu's actions recently. Poppy didn't know magic, but she did know people, and Lulu didn't do things for no reason. There was always a reason, even if it wasn't always immediately apparent to anyone besides the sorceress herself.

Lulu sat in the clearing perfectly still, though the first thing Poppy noticed was the pixie. Usually she tried to ignore the pesky thing, but now it was darting around Lulu's oversized hat at breakneck speed, leaving loops of sparkling purple in its wake.

Poppy cleared her throat.

Lulu turned, staring at them with giant green eyes. "Popsy. Other Other Shiny."

Poppy cast a concerned look in Lux's direction and was met with a shrug.

Then Poppy gave Lux another look, more pointed this time. The two mages had been thick as thieves recently, though Poppy wouldn't have guessed it now.

Lux took a few steps forward towards the unmoving yordle.

"Hey Lu! Why so blue?" When the expected response didn't come, she continued. "But you are looking a lovely shade of purple today. What is your secret?"

This earned a half-hearted giggle.

Poppy stepped forward awkwardly. Well, she had to try. "You know, I've heard that dancing can really help in situations like these." She took a few shuffling steps, eyes locked on Lulu's dull ones the entire time.

Lulu didn't move, so Poppy took a few more steps, grabbing her hammer and swinging it in a non-rhythm as she flailed. After a moment, the purple menace that usually had nothing for Poppy besides sparkles in the eyes joined in too.

Slowly but surely, Lulu's eyes brightened. She rolled upright slowly, following for a few hesitant steps.

Poppy picked up the pace, and Lulu followed, the pixie whirling in between. Lulu was grinning now, and even if her laugh did not have its usual energy, it was better than whatever un-Lulu like trance she'd been in before.

Lux twirled around with them. At some point she caught Lulu's eye.

"Rainbows! But you're the wrong shape! Don't worry, I can help you with that!"

Shining violet flecks surrounded Lux, who continued to spin in circles, giggling. Then she began to bend backwards, forming a preliminary arc.

Poppy slowed her dance, watching cautiously as brightly colored sparks spit from her staff.

Lux's legs had begun to shake, her toes just barely grasping the ground. "Hey Lulu," she called with an upside down smile. "Lulu, that's enough. Can you let me up now?"

Lulu just continued her strange giggling, eyes shadowed in the splotchy light filtering through the trees.

"Lulu, it's time to stop," Poppy told her quietly, stepping up even with her.

"Lulu!" Grasping purple light lifted Lux's body off the ground, forcing it into a narrower arch. "Lulu, stop! Please, you're- Aaaah!"

The pixie flew around Lulu's head frantically, but Lulu ignored it, swinging her staff and humming without a care of the world.

Poppy grasped her by the shoulders, trying not to let her grasp convey her mounting concern. "Lulu, you have to stop!" She shook her slightly, then harder when Lulu's glazed eyes continued to look past her to the tortured girl hanging in the air.

Lux's body continued bowing backward, and the light mage let out a strangled whimper amidst her frenzied breathing. A tear broke loose from her wide eyes, and trailed up her forehead and disappeared into her hanging hair.

Poppy looked at Lux's face and couldn't think of any other option.

Grabbing her hammer from her back, she swung it just so. The jolt up the handle as the hammer head hit skin and bone through the layers of fabric twisted her stomach. Lulu crumpled to the ground in a silent heap, and Lux collapsed a second after.

The pixie, for once, didn't attack her. They just shared a long moment, Poppy with the weight of her hammer heavy in her hand, and the pixie shedding sparkles that somehow seemed duller than usual in the air. The only sound disturbing the glade was Lux's rasping breathes.

Poppy shook her head as she helped Lux up and gathered Lulu to bring her back to the Institute. Things must be even worse than she thought.


	7. Dissecting the Toadstool

Ingenuous adj. 1: showing innocent or childlike simplicity and candidness, 2: lacking craft or subtlety

* * *

"Pop-sy?"

Poppy bolted upright, the line of drool trailing down along her chin chill against the cool air. She blinked blearily, pushing herself out of the chair and barely keeping her footing as she fell the last couple of inches to the floor.

"Lulu!" Poppy hurried to the edge of the barrier as quickly as her leaden legs would allow. "How are you feeling?"

The question was a bit unfair, locked up as she was with every antimage spell the League had at its disposal. Even as magically ungifted as she was, Poppy could see the telltale purple of Lulu's power as it drifted away from her to be absorbed by the numerous glowing rings of runes and wingdings. The barrier contrasted starkly to the otherwise cheery atmosphere of the room, the window lit like sunlight and several vases with flowers (no tulips) spread around to add some extra cheer.

Every time a sparkle winded out, Poppy felt the sadness in her gut a little more strongly.

"I feel…" Lulu paused, tilting her head. She was dressed in a simple shift, and without her signature hat she looked she looked small, her face largely hidden by her masses of unkempt purple hair. "Fuzzy. But not the normal fuzzy," she frowned, "the _normal_ fuzzy."

She stared at Poppy with those large green eyes, and for once Poppy understood exactly what she meant. She shivered.

They talked a little while longer before Karma came in and motioned for Poppy to join her outside, Poppy said her goodbyes, to which Lulu only nodded absently.

Poppy started with thanking Karma for all she and the other champions had done. Magic was something she could not touch herself, and she had felt largely useless in this, so the least she could do was thank those who could.

"She seems physically healthy enough," Karma told Poppy in hushed tones in the hallway.

Poppy could understand her tone. Though there was no one to disturb in the tunnel-like passageway far beneath the Institute, the bands of runes ringing the walls made her feel like she was intruding into the lair of something old and dark.

"Her magic is chaotic under ordinary circumstances. We know far more about balancing such powers than maintaining the delicate imbalances Lulu relies on." She shook her head, lips pursing slightly. "Do you know if something happened to trigger this change?"

Poppy shook her head. "I'm sorry, I told you everything I know. She'd been acting strangely for several days before, but I don't remember anything that could have been the cause. And Lux didn't sense anything either, when we first saw her that afternoon."

Karma's face saddened. "Unfortunately, then, I don't know what we can do for her. Of course we'll keep observing, but if nothing arises…"

Poppy's gaze flicked from Karma at sparkles in the corner of her eye. The pixie fluttered into the hallway, his magenta glow clashing with the dark walls and pale light. He stopped, directly across from Poppy, staring at her.

"We may not know," Poppy said slowly, eyes locked on Pix, "but he might."

* * *

She didn't know how long she'd be gone, and packed accordingly. Still, her heavy pack wasn't nearly as intimidating as the task at hand.

Her ambassador armor hung on its rack, shining in the morning sunlight. Poppy stared at it for a moment, then went to the chest at the foot of her bed. Moving the layers of items on the top to the mattress, she finally reached the very bottom. There, still looking like it had the day she had left for Demacia, was the outfit she had worn that fateful trip.

She put it on, adding a few utilitarian pieces of armor she had accumulated over the years. Finally, she shouldered her pack and hammer, and locked her door.

The pixie waited for her outside. He gazed at her with what Poppy guessed was an inquisitive look.

Poppy still couldn't shake the feeling of how bizarre this entire situation was. But then, it was bizarre seeing him alone. Really, she was just doing what she always did: trying to restore some normality.

Nodding, Poppy followed the pixie out of the Institute.


	8. Uffish Events

Mesmerize v. 1: to subject to mesmerism; also: hypnotize, 2: spellbind

* * *

"You know, covering people with glitter isn't being a clever trickster," Poppy admonished the pixie as she trudged along behind him. "It's just annoying. You don't even see to find it funny. So what's the point?"

Once again, Pix ignored her. This time, though, he flew up ahead, gesturing for her to come see something.

Cresting the hill, Poppy looked down over a familiar sight. "You should have said if we were simply coming to Bandle City," she chastised her companion, adjusting the strap on her pack. "We could have taken the mageroad. It would have saved some time."

Pix shook his head and made a face, suggesting he'd just eaten something foul. Though Poppy couldn't imagine what that could be, given the sorts of things she'd seen the pixie ingest on the way here.

Had it been weeks? She couldn't be sure. They had left the Institute and walked into the forest. From there they'd never left the trees, though they should have crossed more than one major roads within the first couple of hours. Instead they had simply kept walking as the trees shifted from looming canopies far overhead to snow-dusted pines despite the season, to black and twisted branches grasping at a sickly green sky, to the low and cozy trees of home.

Poppy tried to do the math. She had stopped to eat twice, and they'd left in the morning, but the sun was just rising over the valley and it was over a hundred miles between the Sablestone Mountains and the Institute of War…

Poppy couldn't think about it too much. There was too much to do, and it was hardly the strangest thing she would be dealing with this trip.

Her unlikely companion motioned her forward impatiently. "I'd apologize for not being able to fly, but someone here needs to keep her feet on the ground."

Lulu's response jumped to mind, and her throat constricted but she shook that off too.

They didn't head for the city but for a little group of trees a ways from it, far from the smoke trails of the many residences throughout the valley. With a shiver, Poppy realized their final destination.

Lulu had invited her to the Glade several times, but Poppy had never thought it prudent to accept the invitation. The two times she knew of Lulu going there had resulted in her first losing a couple hundred years, and the second a couple hundred children. Poppy had consulted with Zilean and several of the other mages about this phenomenon, but as with Lulu's erratic behavior they'd found nothing definitive.

She trotted down the grassy hillside towards the unassuming patch of trees. From Pix's movements, it looked like this was it.

She saw movement right inside the tree line.

Poppy kept walking as if she'd seen nothing; whoever was there must have seen her, so there was no point in hiding. But she did loosen her hammer at her hip. No reason not to take precautions.

A cursory search yielded no results, but she didn't have time to search further. So she found a distinctive tree, made a quick notch on it with her knife and quickly untied her hair ribbon and tied it around it in a tight knot. She hadn't had time to prepare many precautions, but she could at least now she'd have some indication of how much time had passed when she got out.

Pix was already hovering between an ordinary looking pair of trees. Swallowing, Poppy followed him between them.

* * *

The difference was subtle, but impossible to miss. The world looked the same, but she couldn't feel the warmth of the sunlight, or hear the familiar sounds of the forest. However, there was no denying this place was alive.

Of everything, Pix looked the most different. His form, usually blurred in a haze of magic and sparkles, was distinct for the first time since she'd seen him. He looked far less humanoid without the haze, his features pointed and angular with eyes like a cat and a predatory stance.

Poppy took it as a sign of the sort of creatures she would encounter.

As she walked the forest grew brighter, not the light but the color of the plants. Vibrantly colored moss and lichen grew on the trees, and the foliage overhead grew more colorful, bright yellows and greens and reds.

She kept catching glimpses of bright lights between the trees in the corner of her eye. She assumed they were other pixies; Lulu had mentioned playing with swarms of them that would pick her up and spin her around. A few of the lights had a bigger, more menacing presence. Poppy kept walking, eyes straight ahead.

* * *

Pix stopped at the edge of a clearing.

Brightly colored mushrooms adorned the open lawn of grass aggressively green, except for one place.

In the center of the clearing stood a plant, dark wreathed in the glittering purple magic of the place. Unlike the short, smooth leaved plants ringing the clearing, this plant's leaves spiked into points, veins hard and distinct against the dull green leaves.

The pixie stayed back by the line of trees, body language tense.

Poppy walked out to face it. Finally, after all this, an enemy she could face, hammer in hand.

"Hello outsider." Its bulbous head, like a hard bud or clamshell with a nut-like casing, swiveled to face her. Purple magic poured off it in waves. "This place is mine now! I have woven my roots into its core, and-"

The massive plant's monologue was cut short by a hammer to the head. The nutlike shell cracked, sending chunks flying in every direction. The rest caved inward, and a purple goo oozed between the cracks.

Even Pix seemed stunned. Poppy stared down at the crushed plant, then whacked it a few more times for good measure. And broke the stalk off near the head. And pulled a few of its leaves off.

Then she grabbed it by the stem and yanked it. While she was too small to pull it all the way from the ground from where she stood, she threw it over her shoulder and walked forward, pulling it up roots and all. The roots and the hole she'd pulled it from let off purple mist for a few seconds before turning black and withering in the cool sunlight.

Poppy stomped on the corpse until it turned to dust. She didn't feel any relief, no matter how good it felt to smash that thing; nothing much seemed to have changed and she wasn't sensitive to such things. Hopefully it was enough for those that were.

She looked up at Pix. "Was that it?"

Pix nodded dumbly, and let her back to the entrance. Maybe she imagined it, but the pixie seemed to be giving her a little less attitude.

Maybe killing the thing had worked miracles.

* * *

Poppy sighed in relief as the unfiltered sunlight hit her face.

The forest looked much the same, but she wasn't about to be fooled by such things. Her ribbon was nowhere to be seen.

What she could see, coming down the gentle slope from the foothills was a pair that looked suspiciously like her and the pixie.

Suddenly realizing what had happened, she rushed through the trees until she was a safe distance from where she had searched coming in. Watching herself from her hiding place, she saw herself look around warily, tie the ribbon in place, and vanish between the trees.

Poppy glanced at Pix, who shrugged.

Shaking her head, Poppy put her hammer back in her belt, stood, and smiled. "Let's go home."


	9. Recompensification

Weasel word n. a word used in order to evade or retreat from a direct or forthright statement or position

* * *

"Other Other Shiny!"

"Hello Lulu."

Lux curled and uncurled her fingers slowly. As much as she wanted to forgive Lulu and go back to playing pranks like nothing had happened, on seeing Lulu she couldn't help but remember her empty eyes as her magic had twisted through Lux's body.

She could still feel the tendrils grasping her limbs when she let her mind wander, feel her muscles pulled too far and -

Lux shook herself.

Lulu skipped up to her, the little mage's hat and staff bobbing as she did. The pixie seemed back to his normal self Lux noted, spinning through the air as he trailed after her. Maybe if she had just paid more attention last time the whole thing could have been avoided.

"Want to play whisp-er-o'-wisp? It's where we whisper a secret to the first wisp we find, and then see how it reacts! Be careful, though," she leaned in conspiratorially. "They're awful gossips, so don't tell them anything too scandandalous."

Lux chewed on her lip, the dull pain a welcome distraction to keep her in the present. "I don't know, Lulu. I don't think I'm up for it today."

"They're only up for me, silly! You're plenty tall enough!" Lulu frowned, doing an impressive impression of pondering. "What if I turn rectangle man into a fuzzy?"

Lux's lips twitched, but she quickly schooled her face into stillness. "Rectangle man" was Lulu's name for her brother. The image of him disappearing and a fluffy purple rodent crawling out of his massive armor was delicious.

But no! She could not simply let Lulu get her way. That had gotten her into this mess in the first place. "No Lulu. I can't."

"What if I turn Kitty Kitty Grr Grr into a fuzzy?"

"Nidalee turns into animals anyway. Why would - "

"Not _Kitty_ , Kitty Kitty Grr Grr." Lulu drew a vertical line over her left eye with a stubby purple finger and blew a clump of hair from her eyes.

"Oh, Kitty Kitty Grr Grr." Lux paused, conflicted. Well, Lulu could use some more supervision. "Throw in an Ezreal transformation and we have a deal."


End file.
